Chapter 10 - TESSA’S REAL JOB
Tessa tried to leave Ashborne House twice.
Security stopped her both times.
When I entered the conference room, she looked furious.
“You can’t hold me here.”
“The federal agents can.”
Her confidence weakened.
I sat opposite her.
“Gavin says you worked for Richard.”
She laughed.
“Gavin says whatever saves Gavin.”
“Did you?”
Silence.
“Tessa.”
She looked away.
“I passed information.”
“What information?”
“Wedding schedules.”
“About what?”
“Your meetings.”
My stomach tightened.
“My meetings with whom?”
“Trust officials.”
“Lawyers?”
“Yes.”
“Bankers?”
“Yes.”
I leaned closer.
“You were spying on me.”
“I was paid to report.”
“For how long?”
“Eight months.”
I sat back.
Eight months.
She had been involved almost from the beginning of our engagement.
“And sleeping with Gavin?”
Her face hardened.
“That came later.”
I almost laughed.
“How romantic.”
She looked ashamed for half a second.
Then angry again.
“You think you’re better than me because you were born rich.”
“No.”
“I think I’m better than you because I didn’t help steal eighty-four million dollars.”
Her eyes flashed.
“I didn’t know about the guarantees.”
“Maybe.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then help prove it.”
She stared at me.
“How?”
“Tell Reyes everything.”
Tessa hesitated.
“What do I get?”
I almost admired the consistency.
Even cornered, she negotiated.
“You get a chance not to go down with the Mercers.”
Her expression changed.
Minutes later, Reyes joined us.
Tessa started talking.
She gave names.
Passwords.
Locations.
Then she mentioned a storage unit.
Richard Mercer kept physical records there.
Records even Gavin didn’t know about.
Reyes sent a team.
Three hours later, they found enough documents to open a massive fraud investigation.
And one envelope.
Addressed to me.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Richard Mercer.
And Victoria.
All three standing together twelve years earlier.
On the back were four words.
WE ALL MADE MONEY.
I stared at my aunt.
She went pale.
“That’s not what it looks like.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Victoria took the photograph.
“Your father and Richard invested together once.”
“In what?”
“A development fund.”
“Illegal?”
“No.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because your father discovered Richard was laundering money through it.”
I stared at her.
“And you?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
For once, I believed her.
Then Miriam entered.
“The board vote is ready.”
The Hart trustees had gathered upstairs.
If they approved the conversion, MercerArc would be ours.
Gavin would be removed.
Victoria could also be suspended.
Everything had reached the moment Gavin thought marriage would guarantee.
Only now there would be no wedding.
We entered the boardroom.
Gavin was already there with two attorneys.
He stood when I walked in.
“You can’t vote.”
I stopped.
“Why?”
His attorney slid a document across the table.
“Because Ms. Hart’s voting rights have been transferred.”
Miriam grabbed the paper.
Her face changed.
“What?”
Gavin smiled.
“For once, Olivia, I actually did read the fine print.”
I looked at the signature.
It was mine.
Another forgery.
May you like
But this one had been notarized by someone I knew personally.
My aunt Victoria.
